Dr. Robert P. Donnell 
Department of Geography                                              
Framingham State College
100 State St.
Framingham, MA 01701 
 

7 professional development courses in urban and  environmental planning, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design. 
 

Geography &  Metropolitan Studies, Maxwell Graduate School, Syracuse University, Syracuse,  NY
 

Geography, Minor in Geology, Boston University College of Arts and Sciences, Boston,  MA  
(Honors: Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa,  Gamma   Theta Upsilon)             

Graduate Professional Internship Experience
Assistant Planner in the City and Town Planning Division of Universal Engineering Corporation and Carol Thomas Associates Community Planners, Boston, MA
 

Academic Specialties in Geography
Systematic Studies: Urban Geography, City and Town Planning, Environmental Studies, Natural and Man-Made hazards, Physical Geography, Historical Geography

Regional Studies: United States and Canada, New England, Europe, Middle East, South Asia

 Courses taught at Framingham State College

22.110      World Regional Geography

22.230      Geography of Natural and Man-Made Hazards

22.250      Geography of the United States and Canada

22.251      Geography of New England

22.260     Introduction to Urban Studies and Planning

Research Interests
Natural and man-made hazards, structure fires, fire incidence patterns in cities, fire hazard analysis, fire safety and fire prevention education.

City and town planning and environmental planning issues

New England and Massachusetts geographical issues

Landscape analysis and landscape photography
 

Professional Memberships
Association of American Geographers

New England-St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society

National Council for Geographic Education

National Geographic Society

American Planning Association

National Fire Protection Association  

Selected Publications
Donnell, Robert P. 1997-1998. Editor, Volumes 27 and 28, Proceedings of the Annual Meetings of the New England-St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society.

Donnell, Robert P. 1997. “Geographic Analysis of Urban Structural Fire Problems: The Case  of the Salem, Massachusetts Conflagration of June 25, 1914,” Proceedings, New England-St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society, 27: 69-89.

Donnell, Robert P. 1996. Editor, “State of Massachusetts” section of the Columbia Gazatteer of the World, Columbia University Press,
New York, NY.

Donnell, Robert P., Yaser Najjar and Habis Samawi. 1992. “Recreational Preferences among State Park Users in New England: A Case Study of the Massachusetts State Park System,” Studies in New England Geography, Fall, 53 pages.

Donnell, Robert P., Yaser Najjar. 1989. “Housing Design Preferences and Housing Policy in North American Towns: A Case Study of Framingham, MA and its Rural Environs,” Resolving Rural Housing Policy Conflicts: Cases from Canada, United States, and Britain, Ron Corbett, Editor,
19-46.

Donnell, Robert P., Robert French. 1986. “The Reuse of Old Forts on the Harbor Islands of Boston, MA and Portland, ME,” Proceedings, New England-St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society, 16: 89-97.

Donnell, Robert P. 1986. “Saving a Life: Smoke Detectors and the Law in Massachusetts,” Transition, Quarterly Journal of Socially and Ecologically Responsible Geographers, Fall, 21-23.

Donnell, Robert P. 1977. “Locational Response to Catastrophe: The Shoe and Leather Industry of Salem, Massachusetts after the Conflagration of 1914,” Essex Institute Historical Collections, 113: 105-116.